TCS London Marathon FAQs

Each year, Marie Curie has a set number of TCS London Marathon places. Due to a high demand, we have an application system. Unfortunately, we always receive more applications than we have places, so we can't guarantee that everyone who applies will be able to secure a marathon place.

We expect to close applications by the end of July 2025.

We're aiming to let all applicants know if they've been successful or not by the end of August. Although timings will depend on how many applications we receive.

 If you've received a phone call our team offering you one of our charity places, you'll be sent an email asking to secure your place by paying your non-refundable £75 registration fee. You will have seven days to complete your registration, and once paid, your place will be secured on #TeamMarieCurie

If you miss the seven day payment deadline, your place will be released and offered to someone else. If you'd like to speak to someone from the team, please contact london.marathon@mariecurie.org.uk

Yes, you'll be notified by email by the end of August, if you've been unsuccessful in securing a charity place with us. We receive a very high volume of applications, and unfortunately can't offer everyone a place.

You can of course apply to run with someone or as a group, however all team members must apply for a Marie Curie charity place individually. Please make a note on your application form in the question 'Tell us why you'd like to run for Marie Curie', if you're looking to run as part of a team. All applications will be reviewed and offered on an individual basis.

The console is how you tell the London Marathon that you're running as part of #TeamMarieCurie. Everyone with a charity place has to register on the console otherwise you can't take part. The deadline for completing this will be sent to all charity place runners once registered. Marie Curie doesn't have control over this deadline as it's managed by London Marathon Events, so it's important you complete this step.

Unfortunately, as per our terms and conditions it isn't possible for you to transfer your place to someone else. If you're unable to take part in the event this year, please let us know as soon as possible. We will look to replace you with someone from our waiting list.

We completely understand that things might not always go to plan, and we ask that you reach out to london.marathon@mariecurie.org.uk and let us know as soon as possible. Our full deferral terms can be found in our terms and conditions.

You can enter the public ballot between Friday 25 April – Friday 2 May on the London Marathon's website.

The TCS London Marathon runs a public ballot, so that everyone has an equal opportunity to secure a spot in the event. Those who are successful are chosen at random, and you'll be notified in July if you're offered a place.

Yes, we'd absolutely love for you to join our team. If you're successful in the ballot, please let us know by completing the form on our website. If you have your own place in the ballot, you will not need to pay a registration fee and won't be asked to raise a minimum sponsorship fee, all we ask is you raise as much as you can. 

Absolutely, we'd love to welcome you to the team! Please complete our form to let us know, and a member of our team will be in touch.

Absolutely, we'd love to welcome you to the team! Please complete our form to let us know, and a member of our team will be in touch.

If you have a charity place, we ask runners to raise a minimum of £2,500 (excluding gift aid) and to pay a non-refundable registration fee of £75. If you have your own place, there is no set fundraising target, we only ask you to raise what you can, to help Marie Curie provide expert end of life care for more people across the UK.

Ideally we would like you to start planning out your fundraising as soon as your place is confirmed so you are in the best position to surpass your fundraising target.

We also recommend fundraising around the festive season as we see a large spike in donations from loved ones during this period – it's the giving season after all!

Gift Aid is not included in your fundraising total. Unfortunately, Gift Aid isn't guaranteed for charities, even when people claim it on their donations, therefore it doesn't contribute to your £2,500 fundraising target.

We recommend that you set up your online fundraising page on Enthuse, who are the official fundraising partner for the TCS London Marathon, or alternatively you can use JustGiving.

You'll receive a Marie Curie running top or vest ahead of the marathon, and we'll reach out to let you know when you should expect to receive it.

Yes, if you need a different size, please get in touch with us at london.marathon@mariecurie.org.uk and we will arrange for the correct size to be sent to you.

There's nothing we love more than celebrating our runners and the hard work they put in to raise vital funds for Marie Curie. We have incentives planned across the calendar year for runners. In the past, that's included your very own Marie Curie sweatband for race day, a goody bag at our stall at the Running Show and lots more!

If you have any concerns around raising the minimum fundraising requirement, please let us know as early as possible. We're here to support you, so anything we can do to ensure you smash your targets, let us know.

If you've set up a page on either Enthuse or JustGiving, the donations will be transferred to us automatically. If you've raised any funds offline and wish to pay it in, there are a few different ways:

1. Pay them in directly to your online fundraising page.

2. Call into our Supporter Relations team on 0800 716 146 and make a card payment over the phone.

3. Use a sponsorship form and post it to our Supporter Relations Team at Marie Curie, PO Box 23897, 14 Links Place, Edinburgh, EH6 9AB.

4. Post a cheque to our Supporter Relations team to the same address mentioned with a note of your name, address and that it's to go towards your Marathon fundraising.

5. If it's a matched funding donation from your employer, please email london.marathon@mariecurie.org.uk for the bank details to make the payment to.

If you're concerned about whether you can take part in the marathon due to injury, please let us know as soon as possible by emailing london.marathon@mariecurie.org.uk. We highly recommend seeing a physiotherapist if you ever have any niggles or concerns during your training. They can properly assess the injury, a course of recovery and recommend whether you take part. Make sure to use the training resources we offer you and follow the recommended fuelling and pre/post training exercises.

Sunday 26 April 2026

Accommodation in London does get booked up very quickly for race weekend, so it's worth booking this sooner rather than later. Think about whether you want an easy journey to the starting zone (in the Greenwich Park area) or if you want a shorter journey at the end (staying near the finish in Central London). You can read more about travel and road closures on the London Marathon website.

You'll receive a registration email from TCS London Marathon a couple of weeks before the event, with all the important arrival information for marathon day, including your start wave and time.

If you and your friend/family member are in different starting waves but in the same colour starting pen, whoever is starting earlier can move to the later start time. It isn't possible to swap between colour starting pens or move forward into an earlier wave.

You will need to collect your running pack (which contains your race number and timing chip) from the TCS London Marathon Running Show between Wednesday 22 April and Saturday 25 April. Find details on opening times and location on the London Marathon website.

All runners must attend the TCS London Marathon Running Show in person to collect their running number and timing chip. We'll be there too, so make sure you stop by our stand – more details on this to come!

You can nominate a friend or family member to go for you. They'll be required to take photo ID, a copy of your photo ID and a letter confirming you're happy for them to collect your race pack for you. If you have any concerns about picking up your race pack and don't have anyone to collect this for you, please let us know by emailing london.marathon@mariecurie.org.uk

The race starts in Greenwich Park. Details of which colour zone you'll be starting in will be sent to you in your final registration email a week or so before event day.

Friends and family can access some of the start area. But once you go through to your start wave colour, friends/family aren't able to join you there, unfortunately, as it's an area for runners only.

We will have as many cheer points along the route as possible, we're still in the planning phase – but more information on this to come. 

We'll have our big yellow cheer points along the route and suggest that your friends and family join us!

Yes, we're planning to have a post-race reception, more information on this to come!